Module 2a — Office
Correspondence
and Records
| Course Guide | Module 1 | Module 2a | Module 2b |
Activity 9: Using diplomacy in records
The following activity aims to give you practice in writing "between the lines" in a slightly broader context than the previous activity. This activity shows the effective writing for a note for the file.
The example below reflects the situation where the person being visited is clearly not doing his job well.
You accompany Cccc Dddd (CD), a senior ILO officer, to a meeting with an opposite number in another UN agency. You are responsible for producing a note on the meeting.
Dr X, of UNabc, is well known for his academic interests and for his lack of action on practical matters. He has proved an impediment to the ILO’s move forward on its work.
In the left-hand column of the table provided in the activity template is an account of the discussion as it actually took place at this meeting. In the right-hand column, is a 'translation' that is suitable for a note for the file. The first two are done for you. Try completing the remaining points yourself.
| Account |
Note points | Suggested Answer |
|---|---|---|
Dr X seems to have no idea of what his job is about. He doesn't know how much money he has in his budget or how many people he has working for him. CD suggested that the time had come to get across the resources at his disposal because his lack of action was impacting on other agencies like the ILO trying to work in the same field. Dr X considered this criticism and commented that he might try to find out about these matters in the next few weeks. |
At the time of the meeting, Dr X was unclear as to the level of financial or human resources that are currently available to him or of those that will be available in the next funding cycle. He undertook to clarify in the coming weeks the extent of his resources. |
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He said that when he did find out about the resources at his disposal, he would decide on his priorities. One of these could be about HIV/AIDS issues in the Health Services Sector, he supposed. CD suggested at this point that training programmes at country level, similar to those produced in the Joint ILO/WHO Guidelines on Health Services and HIV/AIDS would be a good focus for his funding. After some debate and persuasion Dr X agreed to make that one of his priorities. |
After considerable discussion, Dr X said he was prepared to make training programmes at country level (similar to those prepared for the Joint ILO/WHO Guidelines on Health Services and HIV/AIDS) one of his priorities. |
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Dr X said he was really only interested in the economic problems connected to health issues and would prefer to spend the resources at his disposal on the production of comprehensive research suitable for publication. He added that he was not a "political animal" and wanted to stay out of anything controversial. |
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Dr X expressed the desire to avoid 'political' issues and focus exclusively on economic problems and producing research publications. |
CD quickly and firmly focused on Dr X’s statement about making HIV/AIDS in the Health Services industry one of his priorities. He tried to firm this up by saying that the ILO welcomed the effort. |
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We responded that: We welcomed the stepping-up of UNabc's efforts in relation to care and support. |
CD suggested to Dr X that it was not always possible to divorce the economic from the political. He also suggested that practical on-the-ground help was what was needed at the moment rather than more academic papers that no-one read. |
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In the HIV/AIDS arena, the political and technical are often intertwined and it is not easy or possible to keep them separated. |